I worked at a VA contract clinic for seven years while Choice was implemented. It took a while but it eventually worked well. The VA employees who are themselves veterans (and there are a LOT of them) were great to work with. The non-veteran bureaucrats are the worst. Those are the ones that need to go.
I experienced the only health crisis of my 62 years last summer. I probably wouldn’t be writing this post if not for the VA hospital in Bay Pines, near Tampa.
I’m much better now, still dealing with some pain but definitely on the mend, albeit with a 40-pound weightloss and a lot of lifestyle changes.
About the only bad thing I can say is that I wanted to sign on as a volunteer but seem to have been lost in the shuffle. Oh well, maybe later ...
Worked at 2 VA in the 80’s and they were horrible.
At one a blind patient was schedule to have a procedure to restore the sight in one of his eyes. That morning right before the surgery the anesthesiologist said he was to tired to do it!
So as a female I used the resources I had available. I started to cry! The patient got his surgery. LOL. You do what you gotta do for our Vets!